Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Examples of such multiple-access networks include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks.
A wireless communication network may include a number of base stations that can support communication for a number of user equipments (UEs), also referred to as mobile devices or mobile entities. A UE may communicate with a base station via a downlink and an uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the base station. As used herein, a “base station” means an evolved Node B (eNode B or eNB), a Node B, a Home Node B, or similar network component of a wireless communications system.
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) represents a major advance in cellular technology as an evolution of Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The LTE physical layer (PHY) provides a highly efficient way to convey both data and control information between base stations, such as evolved Node Bs (eNBs), and mobile entities, such as UEs. In prior applications, a method for facilitating high bandwidth communication for multimedia has been single frequency network (SFN) operation. SFNs utilize radio transmitters, such as, for example, eNBs, to communicate with subscriber UEs. In unicast operation, each eNB may be controlled so as to transmit signals carrying information directed to one or more particular subscriber UEs. The specificity of unicast signaling may be used to enable person-to-person services such as, for example, voice calling, text messaging, or video calling.
In broadcast operation, one or several eNBs in a broadcast area may broadcast signals in a synchronized fashion, carrying information that can be received and accessed by any subscriber UE in the broadcast area. The generality of broadcast operation enables greater efficiency in transmitting information of general public interest, for example, event-related multimedia broadcasts. As the demand and system capability for event-related multimedia and other broadcast services has increased, system operators have shown increasing interest in making use of broadcast operation in 3GPP networks. In the past, 3GPP LTE technology has been primarily used for unicast service, leaving opportunities for improvements and enhancements related to broadcast signaling.
In the context, it would be desirable to maintain continuity of service with respect to content being delivered to a UE, when the UE switches its communication mode (e.g., from broadcast mode to unicast mode, or from unicast mode to broadcast mode). Stated differently, it would be desirable to avoid service interruption at the UE with respect to the content being delivered. For example, in a scenario where the UE switches from unicast mode to broadcast mode, the UE may be monitoring a different channel/frequency than the channel/frequency used to deliver the content and/or service announcement via the broadcast. As such, the UE monitoring the unicast traffic channel may not know that it should switch to the broadcast channel to avoid a service interruption. The UE may continue to receive content on the unicast channel until the broadcast channel is setup. In the example of a scenario where the UE switches from broadcast mode to unicast mode, it would be desirable for the UE to setup the unicast traffic channel before the broadcast is halted or shutdown. Here, the UE may not know that it should setup the unicast traffic channel to continue receiving content. Accordingly, there is a need for a technique for instructing or configuring a UE to monitor the appropriate channels/frequencies and/or setup the appropriate channels/frequencies to avoid interruption of the services to the UE.